If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. PLEASE NOTE: We use an aggressive anti spam filter! If you have trouble registering please use the "Contact Us" link below and we'll help you get registered.

2008 MkIII -- Some Unfinished Business

Forty-one years after finding a '66 Shelby GT-350 Mustang in a field and learning about the Shelby lineage, I finally have the car I really wanted. The GT-350's bigger, badder brother, a 427 Cobra! For many years I've lusted after one but the circumstances were never right for me to own one. Until now...

Perusing Facebook one day in September 2018, I found a listing for a 2008 MkIII kit in Connecticut that had never been finished. I'll share the details with you over a beer someday, but, to make the story short -- I obsessed over this listing so much that my wife asked a car-builder friend of mine to track the car down, make sure it was legit and that the seller wasn't a Nigerian Prince who wanted cash back! Without my knowledge, they found the car, verified the authenticity and then my wife bought it for me as a surprise for my birthday! (Yes, I'm keeping her!)

Two weeks later, I went to Groton, CT to check out the car and bring it home. It turned out to be FF# 6602, a kit sold in 2008 to a gentleman in Rhode Island. He had meticulously researched the car and the parts that he installed (2 binders full of research and receipts) and got it to the go-kart stage but never finished it. Fast forward to February 2017 when the second owner, a pilot from Connecticut, bought the car and took it to a sports car racing / restoration shop for completion. Several upgrades and, I suspect, many dollars later, owner #2 lost interest and I bought the car from him.

I'm now starting the process of checking all previous work done (found 10 loose lug nuts and 6 loose upper control arm pivot bolts so far) by going through the build manual page by page. If I didn't install that piece, I'm checking the torque on the bolts, the fit on the panels, etc. etc.

I will try to keep this thread updated weekly -- still gotta work and weekends are saved for "Cobra time". I welcome questions, comments, suggestions and, when deserved, an insult or two. I have read many other threads and am so impressed with the friendliness and willingness to share ideas, along with the amazing craftsmanship on so many Roadsters.

Gas Tank Flange bends??

So, here's the first of many (I'm sure) questions to come. I am doing a "quality control" audit of all work done by previous owners, and I found the gas tank flange bent up in four spots so that the 3/4" square tubes that come down from the chassis don't mate flush against the flange. See photos

I can only assume that this was done to make the fitting of the tank straps easier, but it almost looks like the flange bends were made when the tank was made. (It's a new tank) The bends are very symmetrical and there are clear tool marks which are all exactly the same, so maybe this is the way it came from the supplier? See the circled areas in this photo...

Regardless of how, or why, the bends were made, this doesn't look right to me. The assembly manual clearly shows the open end of the 3/4" tube, with the plastic plug (referred to in the manual as part number FF#10996) inserted into the tube end, mating flat against the flange. The way it is now, the plastic plugs have been by the sharp flange edges cutting into them. I am planning on dropping the tank, replacing the damaged plugs and reinstalling.

Thoughts or advice please? (sorry about the one thumbnail -- I couldn't figure out how to delete it after i noticed that it was rotated)

You are correct. You need to bend those folded flange areas flat like the rest if the flange around the tank. When you drop the tank to do the flange, it would be a great time to swap the hardware out for stainless.

Dave

Last edited by Papa; 01-07-2019 at 03:19 PM.

There are 10 types of people in this world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.

Correct. Those have to be bent flat like the rest of the flange and sit flat against the plastic plugs. You're right, those are factory bent. A Fox body Mustang has those bent to clear the straps. In our case, the tank mounting is designed to have them flat. Just a bit of a warning. It's stated in the manual that those have to be flattened. I'd be on the lookout for other examples of the directions not being followed properly. Should be the case with any purchased partial build.

Papa, thanks for the tip about replacing the stock hardware with stainless. Great idea! I assume that also means using stainless braided line from the tank to the fuel filter, and then from filter to the electric fuel pump?

edwardb, I appreciate the cautionary note about "other directions not being properly followed". I've been trying to do this but obviously, since I missed the note in the manual about flattening the flange, I must remember to take my time and double-check MY work also! It's easy to get carried away in the excitement of completing one assembly or another. As my new mantra goes: Read the manual three times, Measure twice, Read it again, Cut once, etc. etc.

Speaking of fuel tank connections, I have a new rubber grommet for the neck-to-tank connection but not the metal support for the neck. Here's what it looks like now...

RE: Flattening the tank flange---only at the front where it contacts the "legs". Keep the bends at the rear. Yes, you should use the "magnifying glass" retainer. I got one for a build recently from either Late Model Restoration, CJ Pony Parts or National Parts Depot (sorry, the memory is foggy and receipts aren't handy). The other end of the filler is retained at the Lemans cap. Looking at your photo in the beginning post I can see that yours is a Mk3.1 which will directly accept the fuel tank cap and won't require you to cut & splice a Mustang fill tube. This is like the Mk4 and makes for a much neater setup.

Papa, thanks for the tip about replacing the stock hardware with stainless. Great idea! I assume that also means using stainless braided line from the tank to the fuel filter, and then from filter to the electric fuel pump?

I was only referring to the tank strap hardware. Fuel lines are a whole other topic and you'll get lots of advice when you're ready to do those. I went with flexible braided -6 lines because it seemed easier to me at the time. I may end up replacing the flex lines with hard lines in stainless at some point now that I have the tools to work with it. You still need to do short flex lines from the tank to the hard lines and from the hard lines to your fuel management system (carb or EFI). Be sure that any flex lines you use are PTFE lined.

Dave

There are 10 types of people in this world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.

I was only referring to the tank strap hardware. Fuel lines are a whole other topic and you'll get lots of advice when you're ready to do those. I went with flexible braided -6 lines because it seemed easier to me at the time. I may end up replacing the flex lines with hard lines in stainless at some point now that I have the tools to work with it. You still need to do short flex lines from the tank to the hard lines and from the hard lines to your fuel management system (carb or EFI). Be sure that any flex lines you use are PTFE lined.

Dave

Thanks for the clarification Dave. You see where my mind went right away -- to the expensive stuff, not just nuts 'n bolts!! Will keep your advice in mind.

....Looking at your photo in the beginning post I can see that yours is a Mk3.1 which will directly accept the fuel tank cap and won't require you to cut & splice a Mustang fill tube. This is like the Mk4 and makes for a much neater setup.

Jeff

I've wondered about the differences between a Mk3 and 3.1. What are the differences and how could you tell so quickly from a photo?

I've wondered about the differences between a Mk3 and 3.1. What are the differences and how could you tell so quickly from a photo?

The biggest news was the introduction of the complete kit. A byproduct of that was that the footbox sheetmetal was modified to accommodate the Wilwood pedal box which was part of the package. The steering shaft was changed and as I mentioned in the earlier reply the Lemans cap and fill tube were revised as well. No noteworthy changes to the chassis or body.

Got 4 hours in on the car today. Dropped the gas tank and bent the flanges flat where they contact the 3/4" tubes that extend down from the chassis. Remounted the gas tank temporarily while I secure four square plugs for the tubing and SS hardware for the strap anchors as Papa suggested. No explosions were experienced in this effort!

Fit the aluminum panels that cover the door sills. Previous owner had done a terrible job of positioning them and drilling the rivet holes. There were a bunch of punch marks all over the square tubing -- I wonder if he had the panels reversed (LH for RH) when he started 'cuz most of the marks didn't line up. Just another thing that reinforces the idea that I need to check this guy's work! I eventually got the holes drilled in all the right places and the panels are cleco'd in-place.

To add to Jeff's point, aren't those pieces supposed to have a flange around the outer edge that matches with the door opening? Looks like they've been trimmed off. You place the pieces (with the body on as mentioned) so that the flange matches with the body and that's where the door opening molding is installed. Positive that's how Mk4's are and pretty sure I remember that from the Mk3 build as well. Maybe they'll work OK the way they are, but hmm...